Cool Civil War stuff at museum in Harwinton, Connecticut

On a cold, snowy morning in Connecticut, I made the short trek to tiny Harwinton to visit my friend Dane Deleppo, who helps run the T.A. Hungerford Memorial Library And Museum. The small, off-the-beaten path museum is stuffed from the basement to the second floor with historic memorabilia and artifacts, from a World War I gas mask and German army helmet (a "pickelhaube") to a rare War of 1812 uniform.

My aim was to check out the Civil War collection, especially anything from the 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery, a regiment of mostly Litchfield County residents that suffered more than 300 casualties at the Battle of Cold Harbor on June 1, 1864. Through the years, Litchfield County families and others have donated artifacts to the museum, which if you blink, you may just miss if you drive too fast down two-lane Spielman Highway (State Rt. 4). Dane arrived early and thankfully turned on the heat before my 10 a.m. arrival. Armed with an iPhone 5 and curiosity, I had a blast sifting through the collections. Here's some of what I discovered:

CLICK ON IMAGES FOR A LARGER VIEW.

AMBROTYPE: 19TH CONNECTICUT SOLDIER

This image is either Henry, Jerome, Morris or Lewis Munger, all of whom served in the 19th Connecticut, which mustered in in Litchfield in late July 1862 and later became the 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery. Wearing civilian clothing and holding his kepi with his regimental designation affixed, Munger probably had this image taken shortly after he was mustered in.

REBEL FLAG FROM COLD HARBOR?

The tag on the case indicates this small Rebel battle flag is from Cold Harbor. Was it picked up from the battlefield by a soldier? Or was it made post-war and purchased at, say, a Virginia "relic" shop? I'm not a flag expert, so I will leave this to others to decide. Shoot me your thoughts in an e-mail here.

8TH CONNECTICUT SOLDIERS MEMORIAL LIST

Dane Deleppo holds an ornate descriptive list of soldiers in Company E of the 8th Connecticut. The regiment suffered 70 killed or mortally wounded -- including eight in Company E -- at the Battle of Antietam on Sept. 17, 1862.(Download my Excel spreadsheet of Connecticut Antietam deaths here.) A close-up reveals the beautiful, ornate design on the poster, which lists each soldier in the company.

MUSTER ROLL FOR 13TH COLORED ARTILLERY

Lyman Catlin, who served as a private in the 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery, was promoted to 1st lieutenant in the 13th Colored Heavy Artillery on Aug. 29, 1864. He also served as that regiment's adjutant. From Harwington, he brought the 13th Heavies' muster and descriptive roll home with him after the war. In a sad commentary of the times, next to the name of each soldier appears the name of  his owner and next to the name of the soldier's wife appears the name of her owner. Often, that was not the same person. According to Deleppo, one of Catlin's soldiers followed him back to Connecticut after the war.

2ND CONNECTICUT  HEAVY ARTILLERY RIBBONS

When veterans attended reunions of their comrades after the war, they often collected ribbons such as these, which sometimes were adorned with images of other veterans or war-time iamges of soldiers who didn't survive. I purchased this 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery ribbon on eBay during the summer.

BELDEN BROWN POST-WAR MEMORABILIA

A drummer in the 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery, Belden S. Brown of  Harwinton obtained these knicknacks at Grand Aarmy of the Republic events. The item at top was given out at the dedication of the Soldiers' And Sailors' Memorial in New Haven, Conn., in 1887

Road trip! Harwinton, Connecticut museum

Dane Deleppo is president of the T.A. Hungerford Memorial Museum in Harwinton, Conn.

When we lived in the suburban sprawl of Plano, Texas, I had a a running joke with a friend that the oldest thing in town was the skinny pear tree, circa 1989, next to the swing set by the pool in my back yard. It wasn't true, of course, but we always got a chuckle out of that.

Ahh, good times.

But I digress.

In Connecticut, where we live now, everything is old.

Originally built to house the Harwinton (Conn.) library, this building now
is home to the T.A. Hungerford Memorial Museum.

The house down the road from ours in Avon was built in 1840.

Farmington, the town next door, was settled in 1640, which according to my West Virginia University math is only 142 ... err, 148... years after Columbus discovered America.

Simsbury, 12 miles away, was incorporated in 1673.

Bristol, home of ESPN, was founded in 1833.

And each little town in Connecticut (see Bristol) seems to have a small historical society or museum stuffed with old stuff, including seldom-seen Civil War treasures that many larger museums would love to get their hands on.

Think grandma's attic on steroids.

This afternoon I spent nearly two hours rummaging through nooks and crannies of  T.A. Hungerford Memorial Museum in Harwinton, a tiny town of about 5,000, approximately 25 miles west of Hartford. The small museum is almost hidden away on a hill along Route 4, just up the road from The Liquor Lady and a cemetery that includes gravestones that date to the late 1700s. The museum building, once the Harwinton Library, dates to 1909.

Civil War muskets in the Hungerford Museum collection.

Dane Deleppo, a genial 63-year old former AT&T building maintenance mechanic, is president of the museum, making order out of what once was chaos. It's an ongoing effort. When he first visited the museum years ago, Civil War muskets were stored in the damp, dingy basement. Aghast, he eventually had the weapons moved to a more suitable home on the first floor.

These initials are carved into the stock of a musket shown at
bottom of the above photo,  perhaps by its original rebel owner.

Deleppo and his wife Carol, the museum treasurer, as well as a dedicated group of other folks, have catalogued some of the Civil War collection, which includes a small Confederate flag picked up by a soldier at Cold Harbor, a kepi worn by a musician in the 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery and muster rolls of the 13th U.S. Colored Heavy Artlillery. (In a sad commentary on the era, the rolls include the listing of the former "owners" of the men in the 13th, who were freed or escaped slaves.)

Much of the Hungerford Civil War collection was donated by ancestors of soldiers from Harwinton, Deleppo said. A local woman recently gave the museum an army drum that may date to the Revolutionary War. Where did some of the other stuff, including an unused World War I gas mask, come from? Well, your guess is as good as Dane's.

My favorites in the Civil War collection are the gem tintypes of 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery soldiers and the Confederate musket captured at Harpers Ferry and apparently picked up off a battlefield by a Union soldier. The initials J.R.S. are carved into the stock of the musket, perhaps by the original rebel owner, and the side plate denotes the weapon was converted in Richmond.

A rare War of 1812 lieutenant's uniform.

But my absolute favorites in the museum holdings have nothing to do with the Civil War.

"Check this out," Deleppo said as he slid a 4-foot-long, gray box from under an old, brown bench. As we removed the top of the box, an ancient red and blue coat with silver epaulets and worn metallic buttons and off-white knickers were revealed.

"This," Deleppo said, "is a War of 1812 lieutenant's uniform."

Despite its age, the rare uniform, donated by a local man, is still in decent shape, with just a few holes near the cuffs. "A guy last wore this in the 1970s during a Fourth of July celebration," Deleppo said with chuckle.

As we made our way up the narrow steps to the cramped attic, Deleppo uncovered a small, brown box and pulled out a tiny, spiked helmet that must have been worn by a soldier with an extremely small noggin.

"It's called a pickelhaube," Deleppo said of the World War I German helmet that was undoubtedly another long-ago battlefield pickup, probably by a Harwinton man.

There are other curiosities at the museum: an intricately weaved basket made by a local Indian long ago, a very heavy 18th-century target rifle and a bugle that may be Civil War era. And in a touch of mystery, the tomb of the building's namesake, T.A. Hungerford, is somewhere near the building. But the Civil War collection is easily the highlight.

This little gem of a museum is open every other Saturday from 1-3 p.m. or by appointment by calling Deleppo at 860-485-0517. Go check it out.

Dane Deleppo with a pickelhaube, a World War I German army helmet.